The Year That Never Was
by KevIsTehAwesomeness
Summary: In Donna's search for The Doctor, Harold Saxon piques her interest. She also meets a certain echo...
1. Donna

Donna Noble was sitting in the street, outside the office building she was currently temping at. Coffee in hand, and mobile phone in the other, she was scanning the UFO forum she had signed up to. Why was she on a UFO forum? That story goes back to last Christmas. She was almost married. Then she met a man. This man showed her there was more to life than just life. Her fiancee had turned out to be working with a giant spider, who wanted to eat her. But this man, The Doctor, he called himself, had saved her. Unfortunately, for Lance, there was no saving him. The Doctor, who Donna thought was some kind of Martian, because she'd been in his spaceship, and seen space, actual space, had offered her to join him in his travels through the universe. At the time, Donna had declined. She'd experienced something she'd never seen before, and felt that seeing more and more of it would be too much for her. So she stayed here. On Earth. Decided she'd get away, go travelling, see as much of the world, on Earth, as she could. Which she did. And she absolutely enjoed every moment. But then it ended. And she was back temping. Same old life, on the same old planet. But she knew there was more than this. She'd seen it with her own eyes. So that was it. She'd decided. She was going to find that Doctor man again. Because she should never had declined him. That's why she was signed up on all these conspiracy sites. Because she thought, how do you find The Doctor? Look into all the strange things occuring. So she did. Delved into the mysterious. Some almost led her somewhere, like when she helped ghosts cross over, and some didn't, like the scary restaurant that turned out to be just an infestation of rats. Donna scanned the topics on the forum, but there were hardly any new updates. Besides the bees disappearing. But that didn't interest her, cause she thought it was just mating season or something. Distracting her from her thoughts, the screen above the city came on, along with the voice of Britain's current Prime Minister, Harold Saxon. Donna watched the screen, just in case it was an important message. More jobs for the poor, for example.

"This country has been sick," Saxon began saying, "This country needs healing"

Donna rolled her eyes at this. This announcement was of no interest to her. Britain's sick, we need more hospital staff. All that junk.

"In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that what this country really needs right now-"

Blah blah blah, fake promises. Donna brought her eyes back to her phone. continuing her search for mysterious things that she could investigate. But still, boring topics. Looks like this forum is getting her nowhere.

"Is a Doctor" Saxon finished.

That got Donna interested again. She stood up as she looked at the giant screen once again. Harold Saxon was smiling. But it was more than that. It was the Prime Minister's words. The country needs a doctor. But the way he said it, it didn't sound like any old doctor. It sounded like he was talking TO The Doctor directly. Donna smiled. Oh, this is brilliant. If her suspicion was correct, that meant The Doctor was back on Earth. So it was decided, she was going to find him. The only question was; what does Harold Saxon want with The Doctor? Well. Donna Noble was going to find out. She began walking toward the big screen, away from her office building.

Donna figured the best place to start was doing research on the Prime Minister. So she'd gone to the library, and was sitting at a table, skimming through the book, Harold Saxon: A Modern Churchill. She scanned through the book, but there was nothing of use, it just spoke about how great a Prime Minister he'd make, and blah blah blah. Donna sighed and moved onto the giant book next to her, which was the latest version of Britain's Prime Ministers: A History. Flipping to S, she scanned through the names, looking for Harold Saxon's entry...But there was none. She scanned through the page again, and still didn't see an entry for Harold Saxon. That's odd, she thought, looking up from the book. Surely there'd be an entry for him in this book. She noticed a librarian was walking past her.

"Scuse me" Donna stopped the woman in her tracks.

"Yes?" The woman asked, turning to face Donna.

"Is this book up to date?" Donna asked her, pointing down at the giant book.

"All books in this library are up to date, ma'am" The woman answered.

"No, but this is a book of Prime Ministers,right?" Donna explained, "But there's no entry for Harold Saxon"

"That could hardly be possible," The woman replied, "Are you sure you're reading it right? Maybe you skipped over the entry. It is a large book"

"Oi, don't get all librarian with me," Donna snarled, "I am telling you, there is no entry for Harold Saxon in this book whatsoever"

"And I'm telling you, that is the most updated copy, so there would be" The woman came back at her.

Donna gave a huff, getting up, realising there was no point in trying to convince the woman.

"You can put them back," she said with a fake smile, "That's your job, innit?"

Donna arrived home, and placed herself on the couch in front of the TV. Pulling out her phone, she opened up a Sixth Sense forum she was signed up to. Even though she was in the middle of a search for The Doctor, she always liked to check on new leads, that way she figured she'd be a step ahead.

"Young lady, what do you call that?" Her mother, Sylvia, walked over to her from behind the couch, rambling on as usual, "I got a call from George's Clips two hours ago, wondering if you were here. Said you'd went on a break and never came back. How do you expect to keep a job if you do that?"

Donna rolled her eyes, which were still glued to her phone, she was used to this.

"I got sick" she said sarcastically.

"Then why didn't you come straight home? Or at least give me a call?" Sylvia went on.

"How old am I?!" Donna retorted.

"Oh, you'll be the death of me, Donna, I swear" Sylvia said as she walked back into the kitchen.

Donna rolled her eyes once more as she kept scrolling through her phone, until Harold Saxon's voice caught her attention. She jolted her head straight up, watching the TV. Watching the Prime Minister. The Impossible Prime Minister.

"Britain, Britain, Britain" he was saying.

"What's that?" Her grandfather, Wilfred Mott, asked as he walked in behind her from the back door.

He'd probably just finished his stargazing.

"Just the Prime Minister," Donna replied, "Another announcement"

"Better pay attention then" Wilfred said as he took a seat next to his granddaughter.

"What extraordinary times we've had," Saxon continued, "Just a few years ago, the world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen"

The TV began showing clips from different disasters.

"Big Ben destroyed. A spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men"

Donna didn't remember any of those. Then again, she had been away on her trips around those times. Though her friends had been messaging her when it happened.

"The Christmas star that came to kill"

Well, she knew that one. She was there for that one. How could she forget?

"What's he on about?" Wilfred asked, "Is he talking about aliens? I bet you it's aliens"

"Just listen, Gramps!" Donna said.

"Time and time again, and the government told you nothing," Saxon continued, "Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today, is to tell you this. Citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted"

"Aliens!" Wilfred shouted.

"Shh!" Donna shushed her grandfather.

"A message for humanity, from beyond the stars" Harold Saxon stated as a silver sphere appeared beside him from out of nowhere.

"I told you!" Wilfred said, pointing at the television.

"Gramps!" Donna shouted, leaning in to the screen.

This was perfect. If aliens were coming to Earth, that meant so was The Doctor.

"People of the Earth," the sphere began saying in a female voice, "We come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship"

"Ooh, sweet," Harold Saxon added, "And this species has identified itself. They are called the Toclafane"

"Toka-what?" Wilfred asked.

"How many times, Gramps?!" Donna said.

"And tomorrow morning, they will appear," Saxon continued, "Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. Oh, I don't know, every medical student?"

"See! I said!" Wilfred shouted, getting up, "I always said! And now they're coming! Tomorrow!"

Donna sat there, staring at the TV as the news continued with their stories. Speechless. Aliens were coming to Earth tomorrow. That meant she had to find The Doctor before then.

"Oh, Dad, what are you on about?" Sylvia asked, getting distracted by Wilfred's loudness.

"Aliens, sweetheart!" Wilfred said, "They're coming! And peaceful ones this time too!"

"Oh, come off it, you're always saying that," Sylvia said as she and Wilfred walked back into the kitchen, "I reckon you spend too much time on that hill"

Donna sat there, still staring at the TV, thinking.

"In other news, authorities are on the hunt for these three criminals, a young woman called Martha Jones, a man who goes by The Doctor-"

"What?" Donna asked, snapping out of her daze.

Sure enough, there he was, as clear as day on the news channel. That was The Doctor that she'd been looking for. This proved to her that he was on Earth. Donna got up from the couch, and rushed out the door.

"Where are you going now?!" Sylvia asked her daughter as she noticed this.

"I don't know, Nerys', sleepover" Donna lied as she slammed the door behind her.

"But she doesn't even like Nerys that much" Sylvia told Wilfred, who simply shrugged.

Donna jumped in her mum's car and drove down to the main street, and then driving anywhere and everywhere, scanning for any sign of The Doctor. It got dark and Donna decided to park the car near a small bridge. Sighing, she pushed the chair back, drifting off to sleep. She can find him tomorrow. After all, Harold Saxon didn't say what time tomorrow the aliens would reveal themselves.

Donna woke up to the light of the day, giving a yawn. She checked the time on the car's digital clock. 7:54. Early, but not too early. But early enough to continue her search for The Doctor before Saxon's aliens arrive. Wizard, she thought, as she got out of the car and looked around. Now what side of the street would attract The Doctor more, an alleyway, or a giant building across from the bridged pathway. Large building, probably, perfect place to sneak around, and from what she remembered, that's exactly what he liked to do. She gave a smile and ran for the small pathway, but she was running so fast, she didn't see where she was going, and bumped into someone who was running just as fast in the same direction as her. They both stopped.

"Sorry" Donna said.

"No problem" was the reply from this girl.

The girl was short. Like, really short. And she had short brown shoulder length hair.

"Bit of a rush" Donna explained.

"Yeah," the girl said, darting her eyes around frantically, "I'm a little busy, though"

The girl had noticed Donna's eyes had widened at her last statement.

"Is that a problem?" The girl asked her.

"You're about to get a whole lot busier" Donna told her as she looked to the sky.

The girl followed Donna's gaze, and widened her own eyes as they saw the spheres that were on the news the night before rapidly descending towards them. And not just a few. A great number of them.


	2. Clara

Clara found herself being thrust through the timestream once more, into a busy street in London. She didn't know where she was, or who she was. Just that she had to save The Doctor. She'd been doing it for ten incarnations or so already. But to save him, she first had to find him. Looking around the busy street, there were crowds and crowds of wasn't going to be as easy this time around, by the looks of it. She gave a frustrated sigh, folding her arms. That man. That impossible man. All of a sudden, the large screen above the city came on, and on it appeared a man. Clara somehow knew this man, all the information in her head told her he was Harold Saxon. The current Prime Minister of Britain.

"This country has been sick," he was saying, "This country needs healing-"

I don't have time to listen to this drabble, Clara thought, I've got to find The Doctor. Just as she thought those words, Harold Saxon caught her attention once again.

"What this country really needs right now, is a Doctor" he said, staring right into the camera.

Clara took her gaze back up to the screen. The Prime Minister was grinning. She eyed him. Could it be? Could it be that the Prime Minister was talking directly to The Doctor? Possible. Find Saxon, find The Doctor, she thought. She rushed herself down the street, but then she felt a swish as three other people rushed by her.

"Hey!" she shouted after them.

Then she noticed it. That long brown trenchcoat. She'd recognise that coat from awhile away. It was him. That was The Doctor. And if she was going to save him, she needed to be with him. So she chased after The Doctor and the other two people. She followed him to a small street, where he and his friends had entered one of the houses. Clara snuck around the side of the house, peeping through an open window, to see what was going on. The Doctor was certainly there. But she couldn't very well just walk up to him. Not with those two with him. And certainly not now, that would be breaking in. How, then? she tthought. She had to wait until he was alone. Plus, the reason she was here was because The Great Intelligence stepped into his timeline to destroy it. So she had to wait for Mister Great And Almighty to show his ugly mug. Because that would mean doom for The Doctor. That's why she was here. A fanfare broke Clara's train of thought, and she watched as The Doctor turned on the television to reveal Harold Saxon making an announcement.

"Britain, Britain, Britain," he was saying, "What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen"

The television suddenly showed clips of disasters that had happened, which Clara had small recollections of saving The Doctor from.

"Big Ben destroyed," Saxon continued, "A spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again and the government told you nothing. Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this. Citizens of Great Britain, I have been contacted. A message for humanity from beyond the stars"

Suddenly, a large silver shere appeared beside the Prime Minister...And it began speaking.

"People of Earth," it began, "We come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship"

"Ooh, sweet," Saxon said, "And this species has identified itself. They are called the Toclafane. And tomorrow morning, they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin"

"What?" Clara asked herself in a whisper as she continued listening.

"Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe," The Prime Minister went on, "Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. Oh, I don't know, every medical student?"

Clara noticed the look of worry on The Doctor's face, and saw him turn the TV around...to see sticks of explosives stuck to the back.

Clara gave a gasp, stumbling backwards.

"Out!" The Doctor screamed, grabbing a laptop and rushing his friends out of the house.

Clara quickly rushed herself out of the garden, jumping behind a car as the first floor of the house explodes, as a massive fireball smashes the window. She turns her head to look at the house, now aflame. Oh my God, she thought, that could have been me. I could have been part of it.

"Martha?! What are you doing?!" she heard The Doctor's voice.

Clara peeked her head over the top of the car, and noticed the girl he was with was having a heavily worried conversation with somebody. She glared at the scene playing out.

"We've got to help them!" The girl said to The Doctor frantically.

"That's exactly what they want!" The Doctor said, "It's a trap!"

"I don't care" The girl said, storming over to the car.

Clara stumbled back as the girl got in the car, followed by The Doctor and the other man, and then sped off right in front of her. Rolling her eyes, Clara looked around, and spotted a brick from the house that must have been blown over. She picked it up, and hoping the car beside that one had no alarm, smashed it's window. To her surprise, it didn't. She reached in, unlocking the door, and proceeded to climb in and speed after The Doctor's car. She followed around some rough corners, until they ditched the car. You're joking, Clara thought. She ditched her own car and continued pursuing The Doctor's group. She followed them from a safe distance under a bridge, and stopped when sheheard the girl yell, "Let them go, Saxon!"

Saxon? Clara thought. As in the Prime Minister? What is happening? What has he done?

She watched as The Doctor snatched the phone from the girl, saying "I'm here", and walking ahead of them. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but it was meaningful. And sorrowful. She knew that face. Then all of a sudden, he turned to look at a security camera. He soniced it, and the three friends once again started running. Clara ran after them once again. As darkness descended, she had managed to follow them to an alleyway, which she had lost her breath at. Standing a few feet away, leaning on a wall, out of breath, she decided she would give up for the night. Sliding down the wall, Clara gave a yawn and fell to sleep. She woke up to a bright morning, and then realised that she'd fallen asleep. Giving a shocked gasp, she ran up to the alleyway and saw it was empty. Of course she'd missed him. Running towards the long bridge, Clara cursed to herself under her breath. Too locked in her thoughts, she didn't noticed the other woman in just as much of a rush as she was and they bumped into each other. Clara stopped, brushing her hair back as she looked at the woman. The woman was older than her, and had beautiful long ginger hair. She seemed new but a little familiar. Had she seen this woman before? Did she meet her in a different incarnation of The Doctor's? She hardly remembered her previous lives, if at all, so she just shook the feeling off.

"Sorry" The woman apoligised.

"No problem" Clara said, smiling awkwardly.

"Bit of a rush" The woman added.

"Yeah," Clara said, as she darted her eyes around frantically for any sign of The Doctor, "I'm a little busy, though"

Clara noticed the woman's eyes had widened. What was her problem? Had she just offended her? What a way to react to a stranger being busy, she thought.

"Is that a problem?" Clara asked her.

"You're about to get a whole lot busier" The woman told her as she looked to the sky.

Clara followed her gaze to see tens and thousands of those sphere-shaped aliens that were on the TV descending down onto Earth.

"Oh my God" she said.

"They're here" The woman replied.

And at that statement, the spheres opened up revealing sharp metal things, and began chasing everyone. Two came straight for Clara and this woman.

"This way!" Clara said, grabbing the woman's hand and leading her away from the bridge.

Well. This just made it harder to find The Doctor, she thought. She was being chased by a sphere-shaped alien with a woman she didn't even know.


	3. The Doctor!

Clara led the woman into a shop that had just been vandalised by the spheres, and shut the door behind them, as they hid behind a row of shelves.

"I thought he said they were friendly" The woman said.

"He fooled us," Clara stated, "All of us. The whole planet"

And yet The Great Intelligence was yet to show his face. So all this devastation happened. That couldn't be, though. The Doctor would have figured something out to stop it, and things would be back to normal. And speaking of the man, she still needed to find him. If The Great Intelligence found him before she did, it would be an even worse catastrophe than what was currently happening.

"So what do we do?" The woman asked.

"Give me a minute," Clara replied, "I'll think of something"

Clara looked around the shop for anything that they could use to disguise themselves from the spheres, and escape before they killed them...But there was nothing. They were going to have to take a chance.

"Stay close to me," Clara told the woman, "We need to go back out"

"Back out there?! Are you outta your mind?!" The woman yelled at her, "You're bonkers, girl!"

"Hiding in here isn't any safer," Clara told her, "They'll be back"

Besides, she thought, I need to find The Doctor. Every minute she wastes hanging around is another minute closer to The Great Intelligence ruining this event. But she knew she couldn't just leave this woman to die. The Doctor would have done the same thing. Clara peeked around the corner of the bookshelf, and noticed the street was quiet, so motioned for the woman to follow her. The two quietly snuck into the street, the woman looking around as they quickly darted through the backs of buildings.

"Ohmygod...," The woman said, noticing all the hacked up bodies lying around the street, "Did those sphere things do all this?"

"Most likely," Clara told the woman, "We don't have time to stop, though, hurry!"

They run past a house, with a woman outside, beckoning them to come in. Left with no choice as they notice the spheres come back, they follow her call, and the woman slams the door behind them.

"Are we safe in here?" Clara asked.

"For now" The woman told them, pointing to the door.

The door was sealed as much as it could be, with heavy planks of wood to heavy bolts of metal.

"But what about everyone else?!" The redheaded woman shouted, "My family's still out there!"

"You need to stay calm, I'm sure they've found shelter of their own, Miss...," The door woman said, "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Donna," answered the redhead, "And you'd better pray they found shelter, or else..."

Donna. That name rang a small bell in Clara's head too, but everything was a blur at the moment, with everything that was going on.

"Donna," she said, grabbing ahold of Donna, "Look. You're safe. And I'm sure your family's safe aswell, wherever they are. You need to relax, and keep that in mind."

And with that, Clara went to leave, but the other woman stopped her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay" Clara replied.

"You can't go back out there!" the woman told her.

"I have to" Clara said.

"You really are mad," Donna said, "What on Earth could be so important that you'd risk your life for?"

Clara was silent for a moment, until someone from the other room yelled out to them.

"Helga, come quick! He's on TV again!" they said.

With that, the three women ran into the living room, where a whole bunch of people were sitting around in front of the television...and Harold Saxon appeared on it.

"It's the Prime Minister" Clara said.

"Calls himself The Master now" Helga corrected her.

The Master. That name rang a bell for Clara too. Being so far in The Doctor's timestream, though, she couldn't remember any details. Funny thing that, details. They disappear with every echo she becomes.

"Something weird about that man, I tell ya" Donna added.

"Shh!" Someone quieted them as they all paid attention to what was being said.

"My people," The Master was saying, "Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there, stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope. But I ask you, how much hope has this man got?"

He then wheeled an old man onto the screen. But it wasn't just any old man. Donna and Clara recognised him. Clara could feel it in her bones, and Donna recognised that ugly suit from Christmas day. That was him. That was The Doctor. Harold Saxon, or The Master, or whoever he was, had clearly done something to him.

"Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old, but he's an alien, with a much greater lifespan than you stunted little apes. But what if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All nine hundred years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

The Master then proceeded to adjust the tool in his hand and zap The Doctor with it, causing him to age more and more.

"Older and older and older and older. Down you go, Doctor. Down, down, down go the years" he said.

The Doctor got older and older until he reduced to a shrivelled up little Gollum-type creature, which made both Clara and Donna's hearts sink.

"Doctor," The Master said, then looking deep into the screen, "Received and understood, Miss Jones?"

And then the TV went back to it's original programming. Clara was utterly shocked, as was Donna, but she was more angry. There was also something else, in subtle view, behind The Master that Clara could see. The Great Intelligence. She had to be there.

"I'm sorry, Helga," she turned to the woman who let them in, "Now I really have to go. Where is the Prime Minister? Or The Master, whatever he calls himself"

"You're kidding..." Helga trailed.

"You can't go back out there, child!" said an elderly woman.

"I can, and I am!" Clara fumed.

"Even if you did, there's no way you'd be able to actually get to The Master" said a man.

"Why not?!" asked Clara.

"He took control of the Valiant, one of UNIT'S biggest ships. It's presumably still up in the sky, somewhere" the man replied.

"Then I'll find a way on it!" Clara said, heading for the door.

"And I'm coming with you!" Donna added, following her in her footsteps.

"Donna...," Clara said, turning around, "You can't..."

"I can, and I am," Donna repeated Clara's words, "Now shut it, and let's go!"

And with that, Donna pushed Clara out the door. Besides, The Doctor wasn't going to die before she took him up on his offer.


End file.
